The Em-Dash Witch Hunt: Why Readers Need to Stop Accusing Authors of Using AI


There's a new topic trending online, and honestly? It's getting ridiculous.

Readers are accusing authors of using AI to write their books simply because—drumroll...their stories contain—wait for it...em-dashes.

Yes. That little punctuation mark that authors have been using since before electricity is currently being treated as if it is an AI watermark. 

"I saw a bunch of em-dashes in this book! It must've been written by AI!"...said someone who has clearly never read a Jane Austin novel. <sigh>

Let's make something abundantly clear:

AI did not invent the em-dash, period.

Writers did, hundreds of years ago, in fact.

Jane Austin loved em-dashes and used them often.

Emily Brontë is another author who used a prodigious amount of em-dashes, in case you didn't know.

Virginia Woolf? She practically wrote entire paragraphs using em-dashes!

The em-dash is not a sign the author used artificial intelligence to write their book.

Em-dashes are a sign of dramatic flair. They're meant to be a beat, a pause, and or an emotional punch. You can consider them the punctuation equivalent of a gasp.

So why are readers suddenly treating em-dashes like a red flag for AI writing?

It's because there is a misunderstanding spreading online that goes something like this:

  • "AI uses em-dashes."
  • "This book has em-dashes."
  • "THEREFORE—THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN BY AI."
This is like saying:
  • "AI uses commas."
  • "This book has commas."
  • "The author must be a robot."
There's no logic here, just negative vibes.

AI uses em-dashes because it was trained on books written by human authors who used them first.

Here's a little publishing history lesson:

Em-dashs appear in:
  • Pride and Prejudice (1813)
  • Wuthering Heights (1847)
  • Jane Eyre (1847)
And here are some popular modern authors who are known em-dash users (Pre-AI era):

Historical Romance:
  • Lisa Kleypas
  • Sarah MacLean
  • Julia Quinn
  • Courtney Milan
  • Tessa Dare
Contemporary Romance:
  • Emily Henry
  • Christina Lauren
  • Ali Hazlewood
  • Colleen Hoover
Just to name a few authors in my particular writing genre.

These writers use em-dashes because they're writing:
  • emotion
  • tension
  • interrupted dialogue
  • internal revelations
  • sometimes even to show sarcasm
Em-dashes=voice. Not AI.

But what if you happen to be in the "AI is cheating" crowd?

If using tools makes someone a cheater then:
  • Spellcheck is cheating
  • Microsoft Word is cheating
  • Grammarly is cheating
  • Track Changes is cheating
  • Photoshop is cheating
  • Canva is cheating
  • Cover designers are cheating
  • Pre-made covers are cheating
  • Editors are cheating
  • Stock Photos are cheating
Authors have ALWAYS used tools:
  • Pens, pencils, quills, ink
  • Paper
  • Wordprocessors
  • Dictation software
  • Editing programs
  • Cover designers
  • Stock photos
  • 3D art programs (Poser, Daz 3D)
  • Artists
AI is just a tool like any other. It is not a replacement for creativity.

Creativity is the idea.

Tools are just how we authors bring creativity to life.

Gatekeeping creativity hurts authors.

This new "purity test" ("real" authors can't use AI, or Canva, or Stock Photos, or Grammarly or em-dashes apparently, does nothing but:
  • shame authors
  • restrict creativity
  • discourage new writers
No one is sitting in a cabin in the woods with a quill, a piece of paper and writing by candlelight anymore (unless of course, they want to, and let's face it, it does sound fun!).

In conclusion, here's what I think:

You can prefer Non-AI books, that's your right.

You can choose Non-AI artwork, also your right.

You can set personal boundaries around the tech you choose to support. Nobody's stopping you.

But accusing authors of having AI write their books simply because of a punctuation mark?

At that point—

it's not about ethics.

it's about ignorance.

And the em-dash and authors deserve better.

From now on when you read a book with em-dashes in it, don't assume AI wrote it. 

Instead assume:

The author knows how to create tension, rhythm, and emotion on the page.

Or assume Jane Austin did it first.

Either one works.

Authors:

Keep using em-dashes.

Readers:

Let's retire the em-dash witch hunt.

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